Follow a court's reasoning and where the dissent parts ways

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   A Lesson in German (court opinion and dissent)

   Background: [1] In 1919 Nebraska barred schools from teaching any subject in a language other than English, or teaching another language before a child passed the eighth grade. [2] Robert Meyer, a teacher, was convicted for teaching a ten-year-old pupil to read German. [3] In Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), the Court ruled for Meyer, and Justice James McReynolds wrote for the majority. [4] Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented in an opinion printed with a companion case, Bartels v. Iowa. [5] Every quotation is exact, and cuts are marked.

   Column A, the majority (McReynolds): [6] The problem for our determination is whether the statute as construed and applied unreasonably infringes the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the Fourteenth Amendment. [7] …Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, … and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. [8] …Mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful. [9] …That the State may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to improve the quality of its citizens, … is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected.

   Column B, the dissent (Holmes): [10] We all agree, I take it, that it is desirable that all the citizens of the United States should speak a common tongue, and therefore that the end aimed at by the statute is a lawful and proper one. [11] The only question is whether the means adopted deprive teachers of the liberty secured to them by the Fourteenth Amendment. [12] …I think I appreciate the objection to the law but it appears to me to present a question upon which men reasonably might differ and therefore I am unable to say that the Constitution of the United States prevents the experiment being tried.

   Word notes: [13] The plaintiff in error is Meyer, who brought the appeal. [14] In sentence 7, it is that liberty, and denotes means includes. [15] The end aimed at is the goal, and the means are the ways chosen to reach it.

2. 1.

   Luz fills the row for the goal of the law. What does each column say about that goal?

   • Majority: the goal is lawful and proper; dissent: the State may do much for its citizens.
   • Majority: the State may not try to improve its citizens; dissent: the goal is lawful.
   • Majority: a shared language would harm pupils; dissent: it would help them.
   • Majority: the State may do much for its citizens; dissent: the goal is lawful and proper.
3. 2.

   Tala sorts a statement into the matrix: “Courts should not block a law when reasonable people could disagree about it.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

   • Column A, the majority, sentence 6
   • The word notes, sentence 15
   • Column B, the dissent, sentence 12
   • Both columns, sentence 10
4. 3.

   Jun sorts this statement: “Learning a modern language is part of the liberty the Fourteenth Amendment protects.” Which column holds it, and which sentences back it?

   • The word notes, sentences 13 and 14
   • Column A, the majority, sentences 7 and 8
   • Column B, the dissent, sentences 10 and 11
   • Both columns, sentences 6 and 11
5. 4.

   Pia marks the row where the two columns part ways. On which point do the majority and Holmes disagree?

   • Whether barring early lessons in German is an unreasonable way to reach the goal
   • Whether a shared language is a lawful goal for the state to pursue
   • Whether German is a useful language for young pupils to know
   • Whether the Fourteenth Amendment protects a teacher's work in any way
6. 5.

   The dissent parts ways at one step. Which step in the majority's reasoning does Bo find that Holmes refuses to take?

   • Calling the law unreasonable when reasonable people could disagree about it
   • Treating one shared language for citizens as a proper goal
   • Saying that lessons in German do harm to young pupils
   • Leaving the law in place so that the experiment can be tried

7. Sixty Hours in a Bakery (court opinion and dissent)

   Background: [1] An 1895 New York law said that no bakery worker could be required or permitted to work more than sixty hours a week or ten hours a day. [2] Joseph Lochner, who ran a bakery in Utica, was fined for letting a worker stay longer. [3] In Lochner v. New York (1905), the Court ruled for Lochner by five votes to four, and Justice Rufus Peckham wrote for the majority. [4] Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote a dissent that two other justices joined. [5] Every quotation is exact, and cuts are marked.

   Column A, the majority (Peckham): [6] …the question necessarily arises: Is this a fair, reasonable and appropriate exercise of the police power of the State, or is it an unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right of the individual to his personal liberty or to enter into those contracts in relation to labor which may seem to him appropriate or necessary for the support of himself and his family? [7] …This is not a question of substituting the judgment of the court for that of the legislature. [8] …Clean and wholesome bread does not depend upon whether the baker works but ten hours per day or only sixty hours a week. [9] …We think the limit of the police power has been reached and passed in this case.

   Column B, the dissent (Harlan): [10] If there be doubt as to the validity of the statute, that doubt must therefore be resolved in favor of its validity, and the courts must keep their hands off, leaving the legislature to meet the responsibility for unwise legislation. [11] If the end which the legislature seeks to accomplish be one to which its power extends, and if the means employed to that end, although not the wisest or best, are yet not plainly and palpably unauthorized by law, then the court cannot interfere.

   Word notes: [12] The police power is a state's power to make laws for health, safety and welfare. [13] Arbitrary means without a good reason. [14] Substituting the judgment of the court means putting the judges' opinion in place of the lawmakers'. [15] Wholesome means healthful, and but ten hours means only ten hours. [16] Palpably means plainly enough to be felt or seen.

8. 6.

   Milo fills the answer row for both columns. How does each column answer the question in sentence 6?

   • Majority: in doubt, courts must let it stand; dissent: the hours law goes past the police power.
   • Majority: the hours law goes past the police power; dissent: in doubt, courts must let it stand.
   • Majority: courts must not replace the lawmakers' judgment; dissent: the same.
   • Majority: sixty hours is too long a week to work; dissent: sixty hours is fair.
9. 7.

   Kira sorts this statement: “A court should uphold an unwise law, as long as it is not plainly beyond the State's power.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

   • Column A, the majority, sentence 7
   • Both columns, sentences 7 and 10
   • Column B, the dissent, sentence 11
   • The word notes, sentences 14 and 16
10. 8.

    Ren sorts this statement: “How long bakers work has nothing to do with whether the bread is safe to eat.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

    • The word notes, sentence 15
    • Column A, the majority, sentence 8
    • Both columns, sentences 8 and 11
    • Column B, the dissent, sentence 10
11. 9.

    Esme marks the row where the two columns part ways. What do the majority and Harlan disagree about?

    • Whether Lochner was fined for letting a worker stay longer
    • Whether the police power of a state has a limit
    • How sure a court must be before it strikes down a law like this one
    • Whether working long hours is good for bakers
12. 10.

    Noah looks for the two tests that show the gap between the columns. Which pair of phrases shows it?

    • Majority: “Clean and wholesome bread”; dissent: “unwise legislation”
    • Majority: “the police power of the State”; dissent: “to which its power extends”
    • Majority: “fair, reasonable and appropriate”; dissent: “plainly and palpably unauthorized”
    • Majority: “keep their hands off”; dissent: “reached and passed”